TAELER: WWE Jumps Into the NFT World

Shortly before WWE’s biggest PPV of the year, they made the announcement of the very first Undertaker NFT available now on wwe.com. WWE presented its initial drop of the Undertaker NFT just ahead of Wrestlemania 37 and effectively threw its proverbial hat into the white hot ring of fire surrounding NFTs. The NFT market within the realms of art and finance are taking the aforementioned sectors and revolutionizing how people are looking at art, investing, and collecting. Many people have begun speaking in length at to great detail on the projections of NFTs. From Gary Vaynerchuk to Mark Cuban, and on the Bloomberg Quick-take and of course Yahoo Finance. Seeing WWE make this move is a very interesting play that I think WWE may have timed perfectly being slightly ahead of the curve. So what are NFT’s exactly? What does it mean? And how does it pertain to you? Let’s dive in!

NFT (as I currently understand it) stands for ‘non-fungible’ token. It’s basically a digital token. Reminiscent of Bitcoin, NFT’s are a digital token type of cryptocurrency that is as varied as it is numerous in its different forms. NFT’s can be stored digitally for example as a digital piece of art, music file or even an autographed tweet from Twitter… NFT’s basis is centered around things that can be stored and/or hold value and by its own design – cannot be duplicated or replicated to decrease its collecting value. In essence, NFT’s provide a way for items to hold value without the ability to be replicated, so thereby preventing knock-offs. Think of fake designer purses, paintings, watches, mass-produced replicas, etc.

With NFT’s digital file coding, the art or music, and every other such thing is, for lack of a better term “tokenised.” Thus creating digital certificate of authenticity and number. To which that specific ownership certificate certifying authenticity can be bought or sold among the masses that have flocked to the latest trend – NFT’s. According to Insider.com, people are currently motivated to buy NFT’s because they provide a unique connection to the creator that does not exist with any other art form and according to Cuban in his Insider interview, they the buyer knows exactly how many will be made or ‘minted’ and therefore has a blockchain proof of ownership…

If you’re still confused, I’ll’ try to break it down a bit more simply as I also needed a better grasp prior to WWE’s NFT launch. Bitcoins are fungible. You can trade one for another as they are essential interchangeable and you’ll have exactly the same thing. If you mine 10 Bitcoins and you trade someone for their 10 Bitcoins, you’ll still have 10 Bitcoins. Fungible. Now, NFT’s are non-fungible, meaning basically this, think of a one-of-a-kind trading card. If you traded a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card with a 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth card, you’d be losing your hat by way of over a million plus dollars depending on the condition. Not interchangeable. This same concept can easily be understood in the realms of comic books, Pokémon cards, art, etc. NFT’s drive home the idea quoted by theverge.com, anyone can buy a Monet print, but only one can own the original…

So how does the WWE play into this? So glad you asked, joking of course. WWE opened its several tiered NFT auctions during Wrestlemania 37 and has since reached far higher than the projected expectations. Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers. The WWE’s NFT launch commemorates the legendary career of The Undertaker – WWE Hall of Famer and Pop-Culture Icon! Two auctions have already concluded since the end of Night Two of Wrestlemania 37. To say that the auctions were successful would be putting it mildly. The Platinum tier packages started at $10,000 dollars will be discussed below.

The Gold tier package boasted one minted WWE Undertaker NFT and started at $5,000. The auction included the one-of-a-kind NFT token along with a signed championship belt, personalized video message from The Undertaker, and two front row seats to any Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown of the winners choice.

The Silver tier package came with 37 editions and therefore 37 winners. Each package came in at a fixed rate of $1,000 each with the first 18 being chosen during Night 1 of Wrestlemania 37. The next winners, 19-37 were chosen on Night Two of Wrestlemania 37 in celebration of the flagship PPV of the WWE. The editions winners received a limited edition WWE Undertaker NFT with only 37 minted, and a pair of side belt plates signed by The Deadman himself. The Bronze tier package was separated into two WWE drops, the first proceeding Night 1 of Wrestlemania 37. And the second drop proceeding Night 2, both 15 minute intervals and saw over 1500 bidders.

However, The NFT Auction gaining the most attention was by far and away The Platinum Tier package I briefly mentioned above. The Platinum was the top tier with the highest price that started at a value of 10,000 Dollars. The auction consisted of – in addition to an official WWE minted HIAC Undertaker NFT, two VIP Tickets with VIP passes and services to a Wrestlemania of the winners choice in relevance to Wrestlemania 38 in Texas or Wrestlemania 39 in California, a recorded personalized message from The Undertaker himself, the urn used by Paul Bearer on WWE programming straight from the WWE Vault, and a championship signed by The Undertaker.

After all was said and done, this first official WWE NFT launch was a huge smash as WWE entered the NFT game with never before sold memorabilia! The decision to begin with The Undertaker in my opinion was an excellent choice. To celebrate Wrestlemania 37 and the return of a live crowd along with the memorable moments of a career spanning 30+ years, while also being synonymous with Wrestlemania itself is none other than The Undertaker. WWE has rumored to have brought in over $300,000 in revenue from these NFT auctions. Reports currently coming in have revealed that all tiers officially sold out and the Platinum for obvious reasons brought in the bulk of the money with a rumored $100,000 bid…

Be on the lookout as WWE continues to stake their claim in the NFT game with minted official WWE NFT’s. I’m all but certain that there will be more to come from here on out. Becky Lunch? Roddy Piper? CM Punk? Sasha Banks? The Rock? John Cena? Mankind? The possibilities are numerous and there for the WWE Universe to collect… Who and what NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) will you want to collect in this new-age digital world? Stay tuned!

For more Taeler Hendrix content check out the links below

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